Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival

Submitted by the Event Organizer

Featuring the Del Sol Quartet and guest artists Marguerite Brown, The Cornelius Cardew Choir, Giacomo Fiore, Ellen Fullman, deVon R. Gray, Michael Harrison, Stephen Kent, Daisy Press, Dariush Saghafi, Hong Wang, and Gayle Young.

One year after the Second Annual Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival’s cancellation, Del Sol Quartet returns to Old First Concerts to host an online festival highlighting the experimental innovators and traditional masters of pure-ratio harmonies. Although the Bay Area has long been a hotbed of alternate tunings, the Pacific Pythagorean Music Festival is the first local event dedicated to hearing these resonant harmonies. This year’s online format provides a unique opportunity to invite performers whose work involves large instruments that cannot easily be moved for live performance, including deVon R. Gray and Michael Harrison’s specially tuned pianos and Ellen Fullman’s Long String Instrument. Santur master Dariush Saghafi and erhu virtuoso Hong Wang will perform non-European classical tunings. Stephen Kent will work his didjeridu magic sure to expand the space inside our headphones. The festival’s featured performers include cult vocalist Daisy Press, guitarist Giacomo Fiore, Seattle-based composer Marguerite Brown, Canadian innovator Gayle Young, and the Bay Area’s own Cornelius Cardew Choir.

Fascinated by the feedback loop between social change, technology, and artistic innovation, the San Francisco-based Del Sol Quartet is a leading force in 21st century chamber music – whether introducing Ben Johnston’s microtonal Americana at the Library of Congress, taking Aeryn Santillan’s gun-violence memorial to the streets of the Mission District, exploring Andean soundscapes with Gabriela Lena Frank, or collaborating with Huang Ruo and the anonymous poets who carved their words into the walls of the Angel Island Immigration Station during the years of the Chinese Exclusion Act. The current Del Sol lineup, marked by the arrival of violinist Sam Weiser alongside mainstays Charlton Lee, Kathryn Bates and Ben Kreith, brings a fresh energy, freedom, and precision to the group.

Recognized as a “vigorous champion of living composers”, Del Sol has premiered hundreds of works by composers including Terry Riley, Gabriela Lena Frank, Frederic Rzewski, Huang Ruo, Ben Johnston, Chinary Ung, Mason Bates, Pamela Z, Tania León, Erberk Eryilmaz, Theresa Wong, Reza Vali, Mohammed Fairouz and Peter Sculthorpe.

Many of these works are included on Del Sol’s nine critically-acclaimed albums. PopMatters praised Del Sol’s “unfettered mastery” on Terry Riley’s Dark Queen Mantra (2017, Sono Luminus). Scrapyard Exotica (2015) elicited this rave in The New York Times. “I could be wrong, but I’m guessing it’s been a while since you’ve rocked out to a string quartet recording. See if your foot can stay still once you put on this funky disc of rhythmically infectious (if often warped) music played by the pop adventurous Del Sol String Quartet.”

With its deep commitment to education, Del Sol has reached thousands of K-12 students through inventive school performances, workshops, coaching, and residencies. The Quartet members also have worked closely with students and faculty at universities across the country. delsolquartet.com

Disclaimer: Please double check event information with the event organizer as events can be canceled, details can change after they are added to our calendar, and errors do occur.